The new year brings the 3rd step of the 4-step increase to minimum wage in Hawaii. As of January 1, 2017 the minimum wage for 2017 will be $9.25 per hour. Act 82 from the 2014 Regular Legislative Session increased Hawaii minimum wage in four steps. The last step will increase the minimum wage to $10.10, as of January 1, 2018.
Tip credit remains the same
The credit for
regularly tipped employees will not change and remains the same as the 2016 tip
credit of 75 cents, as long as the tipped employee receives at least $16.25
(minimum wage plus $7.00) per hour in wages and tips combined. This allows the
adjusted minimum wage paid by the employer to be $8.50, per hour, as long as
the employee is making $7.75 per hour in tips.
See the Wage Standards Division webpage for more details on figuring the
tip credit at http://labor.hawaii.gov/wsd/files/2014/06/Tip-Credit-Notice-with-exhibits-June-2014.pdf.
Required posting of notice
The required notice to be posted in the workplace can be
found on the Department’s webpage at http://labor.hawaii.gov/wsd/files/2014/06/Minimum-Wage-Poster-June-2014.pdf
The complete Wage and Hour Law, Chapter 387, Hawaii Revised
Statutes can be found online at http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol07_Ch0346-0398/HRS0387/HRS_0387-.htm.
and the corresponding Hawaii Administrative Rules Chapter
12-20 at http://labor.hawaii.gov/wsd/files/2013/01/12-20.pdf.
Relation to FLSA
While the federal minimum wage remains at $7.25, per hour, under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), all
employers in Hawaii are required to pay their employees at least $9.25 per hour
in 2017.
Minimum wage statistics
Minimum wage and
overtime complaints filed under the Wage and Hour Law, Chapter 387, Hawaii
Revised Statutes continue to represent approximately ten percent of complaints
filed in the Wage Standards Division. A
fifty percent decrease in minimum wage
and overtime complaints filed showed up in Maui County in 2016, with the number
of complaints in Maui County dropping from 2 a month to just one a month.
